Tensions Soar in Kosovo after Serb Teenagers Killed

Fewer than 100,000 Serbs now remain in Kosovo living in enclaves protected by NATO peacekeepers. U.N. figures say 273 Serbs have been murdered in attacks since 1999. Zivkovic has highlightd the fact that no one has been punished for any of the incidents.

Albanians in Kosovo suffered wholesale ethnic cleansing and murder under the regime of the former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic.

A number of others were injured in Wednesday’s shooting in which a gunman opened fire on a group of youngsters playing in a river. The killings have been condemned by the the UN, the EU, Russia and the US. Serbs in Kosovo registered their outrage in a demonstration near the victims’ home village.

Holkeri was expected to oversee initial talks later this year that would lead up to tackling the crunch issue of Kosovo’s future status. But analysts say the attack and the reverberations it has set off may cloud that prospect.